Inland muilla facts for kids

The Inland Muilla (scientific name: Muilla transmontana) is a special kind of flowering plant. It's known for its pretty white flowers. This plant is a native resident of certain parts of the Great Basin region in the western United States.

It grows naturally in areas like Nevada and parts of California. You can find it in places east of the big mountain ranges. The Inland Muilla likes to live in mountain forests, dry scrublands, and high plateau areas. It's a tough plant that thrives in these unique environments.

Discovering the Inland Muilla

The Inland Muilla is a type of plant that comes back year after year. This means it's a perennial plant. It grows from a special underground stem called a corm. A corm is like a small, solid bulb. It helps the plant store food and survive through different seasons.

What Does It Look Like?

The plant sends up a straight stem that can grow up to half a meter tall. That's about 20 inches, or roughly the length of a baseball bat. At the bottom of the stem, you'll find long, onion-like leaves. These leaves can be quite long, from 20 to 60 centimeters (about 8 to 24 inches).

Its Unique Flowers

At the top of the stem, the Inland Muilla has a cluster of flowers. This cluster is shaped like an umbel, which looks a bit like an upside-down umbrella. There are usually 12 to 30 flowers in each cluster. Each tiny flower sits on its own small stalk, called a pedicel, which can be up to 3 centimeters long.

Each flower has six petal-like parts called tepals. When they first open, these tepals are white. As they get older and start to dry, they turn a pale purple color. Each tepal is just under a centimeter long.

In the very center of each flower, you'll see six upright parts called stamens. These are the male parts of the flower. The bottom part of each stamen is wider and they all join together. They form a small cup around the gynoecium, which is the female part of the flower. This unique structure helps the plant with its reproduction process.